Assignment 2 Tom Johnson

Assignment 2 by Tom Johnson

My recollections of the Master (re-edited)

I met the Hsuan Hua for the first time back in 1991 at the Vedanta Olema retreat. He was a guest speaker and I wanted to see 'the Buddha.' It was an interesting experience to say the least. The master was giving a talk in Chinese and a young interpreter (Hung Sure) was giving the English rendering.

This is the tent where the Master gave his talk at Olema. It is also where the Master got the idea for creating the tented area behind the Buddha Hall. I was told this by Fu Lin and some of the other construction workers. This is a picture of the podium area and a picture of Swami Prabudananda the head of the San Francisco
Vedanta society. I know him. He is a very saintly man. Below is a picture of the tented area




The above picture is from: http://belurmath.org/centers/images/snf/srt.jpg

The picture to the side is from: http://belurmath.org/centers/images/snf/scs.jpg







I have been a member of the Vedanta Society for the last 25 years. It was here at the Olema Retreat that I met the Master for the first time. My teacher told me the deeds, the words, and the thoughts of a 'godly' person (a

Buddha or arhat) are not ordinary. Those actions have a special significance as compared to an ordinary person. A Buddha has a special power (that is why he or she is a Buddha) and being in the presence of a Buddha is particularly empowering. A bit of the Buddha can "rub off on you" so to speak, provided you are trying to live and express the Buddha nature. I'm sorry to say my "eyes" (inner eyes) are not open to explain what I saw. I only saw the Master talk, yet I was "attracted" by what I saw. Divine attraction is type of power that Buddhas and divine beings possess. It affects beings and 'draws' them to the divine beings.

This is a picture of the Master; it is kind of what I saw...



Assignment #2 ( my answer )

It is interesting to see the Master's direct disciples react to his passing and also to their own experiences in relation to him. It seems a Buddha has come and "gone." His disciples have direction (what to do with themselves and why they are living their lives the way they are), but then they seem uncertain about themselves and their relationship to the organization.

I see all of this as an "outsider." I am and I am not an outsider. I come from a different tradition and also am not a direct disciple. I am seeing this from a third person perspective. Imagine someone who is watching a chess game. That person can see certain moves the other two cannot. In this case, I'm watching the Master and his disciple(s). It is odd, awful, awesome, unique and very human. I guess I get to have a different perspective on all of this (CTTB, the Master's disciples, DRBA politics, etc.) and get to laugh at it all.

How shall "I" explain my perspective??? To start with, I was trained and instructed in Hinduism, more particularly Vedanta. Vedanta was created in India as a reaction to Buddhism. I learned about this in a lecture hall in Berkeley 25 years ago. It was an interesting experience. I like to tell the people at the City of 10,000 Buddhas that they have their teacher, but I have my own. He is equally 'unreal:' meaning, he is a seer-sage-monk. My teacher has a lot in common with 'your' teacher. I read something about the hall marks of a Buddha and I know for certain that my teacher qualifies, but I believe he is on the Bodhisattva path because my teacher said he is coming back a few more times. As for information about what is a Buddha, deep philosophical ideals, theology, and things of that nature, I received instruction concerning them via the Vedanta, the Shankya and the Yoga schools. When the Buddha was young he was instructed in the Shankya and the Yoga schools of philosophy. It is interesting to see how these philosophical ideals are represented from a different perspective in Buddhism.

As for Buddhism, I learned about Buddhism from how it is different than Hinduism. I have a picture of the gate here. There is an room in the gate where people sit. It has an Internet connection and allows me to do my homework in it! It also shows how Buddhism has changed through the many centuries...













There are a lot of neat features at the City of the 10,000 Buddhas. One of them is the Wonderful Enlightenment Mountain. I was told by someone that the Master had climbed the mountain. I have been up the mountain myself on many occasions. There are 800 steps carved on it. There were no stairs when the Master climbed it. It is very steep. He must have had a hard time getting to the top! Here is a picture of the mountain...



(picture of Master) from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hsuan_Hua

(Picture of gate) from 2: http://www.drba.org

(Wonderful Englightenment Mountain) from http://www.cttbusa.org/summer/summer.asp